Dungen - 4

by Eddie Robson

Dungen Masters

"Dungen are emerging as a sort of stoner-rock Field Music, and are revealing the potential to produce a great multi-layered record."

In spite of its title, Wikipedia thinks ‘4’ is Dungen’s fifth album, and it arguably is. This is, however, not very interesting. What is interesting is how good a record ‘4’ is. Whereas most bands with disparate influences gradually merge them into a more consistent, unified sound, Dungen seem to be doing the opposite. Their artful, jazzy lounge-rock side is more pronounced than ever, with several tracks here showing great restraint and gorgeous arrangement: on ‘Det Tar Tid’ they sound more than ever like Sweden’s answer to Super Furry Animals.

Yet (and, in fact, the Furries often do this sort of thing as well) Dungen think nothing of emerging from a cool, low-key piece like that and ploughing straight into a massive stoner-rock riff, as on ‘Samtidigt 1’. This side to their material, more familiar from their earlier albums, is just as strongly present, creating an impression of an almost schizophrenic band. The glue that holds this division together is simple quality: if the tracks are good enough, they’ll go together, which is true eclecticism. At times the two blend neatly within the same track, as on ‘Fredag’ and ‘Finns Det Nagon Mojlighet’, both of which break down into fuzzy guitar in the second half.

As you’ll have noted from the song titles, Dungen remain one of the very, very few Swedish groups to get any international exposure without singing in English. Good on them. It matters very little on this album anyway, since roughly half of it is instrumental, but it’s nice that somebody is trying to do things differently, even if the rest of the world hasn’t a clue what he’s singing about.

This album has been recorded a little differently from Dungen’s previous records: where before frontman Gustav Ejstes played most instruments himself, ‘4’ is more of a band effort – and crucially Ejstes has largely dodged the guitar and moved towards the piano as his main instrument. The effect this has had is clear, with ‘4’ being much less of a guitar record than its predecessor, ‘Tio Bitar’. Dungen are emerging as a sort of stoner-rock Field Music, and are revealing the potential to produce a great multi-layered record. But ‘4’ is no stepping stone, it’s a fine album in its own right.
Mendelsohn said on September 25th 2008 [report abuse]

best standfirst ever.

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